A Burning Rose
by mAdz1824
Summary: People wonder what would happen if Prim refused to let Katniss take her place in the Hunger Games. Here lay all of the details of what would have happened. Disclaimer: I do NOT own the setting or characters or anything like that. Suzanne Collins does. :P
1. Chapter 1

I stood in the crowd of girls, waiting. For the first time in my life, I was going to a reaping, a reaping where the annoying Effie Trinket drew names out of a bowl, naming who would die. Effie talked about the rebellion seventy-four years ago, and finally got to the part everybody came to hear. The drawing of the names. The death sentences. The reaping.

"Ladies first!" came the cry in the annoying Capitol accent. Her hand entered the glass bowl, fished around inside, and grasped a name. She pulled her hand out, opened it up, and read. "Primrose Everdeen!" Everybody stared at the tribute. Everybody stared at me. The entire district was silent as I started walking up to the stage, to the place where that annoying Effie would make me shake hands with a boy who might kill me.

Before I could take a step, an unmistakable voice from behind me cried out, "I volunteer!" My sister. Katniss.

"No." My voice was barely audible, but it made it's way to Katniss's ears. I mustered my courage and said it again, louder. "No, Katniss, you're not going. I am going to the Hunger Games."

Silence. That was the only thing that the crowd gave. They wanted to see what would happen next, however nerve-wracking. They wanted to see who would die.

Ignoring Katniss's screams of denial behind me, I made my way up onto the stage. Effie was smiling her cheesy smile, but I could see from the look in her eyes that she was troubled. Only I could see it, because I was the closest, but it was still hard for me to see it because the hint was small, although clear.

Truthfully, it made me even more scared. Anybody would be, being sent off to kill 23 other kids or get killed, but seeing fright in Effie's eyes changed things for some reason. Maybe it was seeing a 12-year-old go into that willingly.

It was the boys' turn. Effie reached her hand into the glass bowl containing the names of the many games. I desperately hoped it would not be Gale. His family needed him, but he did have lots of tesserae. Also, he could help my sister. "Peeta Mellark!"

I recognized the last name. I think that was the surname of the baker who has given my family bread in times of need. I couldn't remember hearing his first name before though. Peeta walked up, a bit frightened. Suddenly, I knew exactly who he was. I had seen him throw hundred-pound bags of flour over his shoulder like they weighed nothing. He, unlike me, could survive the Games.

Nobody volunteered. He shook hands with me, and we were whisked off to the Justice Building.

My mother and sister came in first. "Why…" Katniss started to ask.

"Mother needs you," I replied, gesturing towards our mother. "Without you, neither of us would have enough meat, or money, or anything. And I wouldn't be able to live without you, even though you'd probably come back. But the chance was too great that you'd die." I looked her in the eye. "Take care of Buttercup for me, okay?"

Katniss nodded as her arms encircled and cradled me where I stood. I hugged her back, tears streaming down my face. I wiped them off as she let go, but they kept coming. There was nothing I could do to stop it. "I'll miss you, Katniss."

Her reply came, weakened, since she had been crying as well. "I'll miss you too, Little Duck." I walked over to hug my mom and talk to her.

"I promise, mother, I'll be back. I love you, mommy. I need you." I was going to say more, but a Peacekeeper came, and took her away from me. Katniss quickly came up to me and pinned something on my chest. A mockingjay pin. I hugged her, and she was dragged away as well. All three of us broke into tears again.

"Come back!" I screamed, but the Peacekeepers didn't even give me a second glance.

Next, came in my best friends, Aliant and Ocarina, who were twins, along with my other friends, Phox, Lavern, and Avonne. I hugged them all, but we all knew that our time together was short. We cried together, and I told them I'd never forget them and I'd wait for them anxiously if I went to heaven. When they told me not to think like that, I whispered something in each friend's ear. A private message from me to them.

I started with the twins. I told Aliant that I had on the bracelet she made by herself for me. Her smile and tears said everything I needed to hear. I told Ocarina that every time I saw a berry I would think of her, since she had almost eaten one of the deadly nightlock berries. After this, she nodded sadly and comforted her sister.

I told Lavern that I would respect the dead, since her brother had died in the games a few years ago. "Rest in peace, Raymond," I added on to the end. Tears welled up in her eyes as I mentioned his name, and I hugged her before I went on to Avonne.

I told Avonne that I would try to ally with District 3, and if I couldn't create an alliance with them, spare them once. Other than her immediate family, the rest of her family was in District 3.

And finally I told Phox that if I got back, I wanted him to go out with me. He smiled, and in response to that, kissed me on the forehead. "I would never turn down an offer like that from you, Prim."

Right after I finished talking to my new boyfriend, a Peacekeeper came in from the door. "I'll win for you, guys!" I cried as the Peacekeeper guided them out of the room.

The Peacekeeper opened the door once more, but I didn't see anyone come in. I looked down, and saw Buttercup walking over to me. I picked her up and cuddled with her, crying into her fur. "I love you, Buttercup. Try not to kill Katniss, okay? She's not going to do anything to you." But faster than the others, she was taken away too.

I hated the Peacekeeper right then. He had taken away everyone that meant anything to me. He took away my family, my friends, even my cat! Why, oh why, did these visits have to be so short? Why did they even have to end?

I left the goddamned Justice Building and met with my mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, and the District 12 escort, Effie. It was time for the train ride.

**So, that's it so far. If you liked it or have anything useful to say, please review!**

**–mAdz1824**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the late post, guys. I'll try to update as soon as possible and make this one long to make up for it.**

**mAdz1824 **

First things first, we were shown our rooms. Mine was wonderful. The walls were forest green, my second favorite color. Above the queen-sized bed in the center of the room was an abstract painting. The swirls of blue, gray, and green made the shape of a river in a clearing in a forest, but up close it was just a blend of colors. Looking down, I gasped as my eyes took in the view of the bed.

The bed had a brown and green comforter and a lime green headboard woven out of some kind of bendy wood. Growing up in District 12, I didn't know much about trees. Next to the bed was a wooden dresser, matching the nature theme and was the exact same color as the brown on the bed. Curious, I opened the drawers to see inside.

There were beautiful, fancy clothes, all my size. I never would have been able to afford any article of clothing in that drawer while I was in District 12. Not even a single mitten. I pulled out my favorite outfit.

The top was an aquamarine, loose shirt made of some thin, smooth fabric I'd never seen before. The sleeves went down a bit past my elbows, and along the neckline of the top were five rows of sequins of the same color. The pants were made of the exact same material, ending below the anklebone. It looked like someone had twisted the cuffs counterclockwise a few times and cast some magic spell to make it stay like that, because for some reason it did.

"Do you like your room?" came a voice from behind. I jumped. The voice was familiar, so I knew who had spoke.

"Effie, you startled me! Yes, my room is amazing. I can't thank you enough" I exclaimed, hugging her happily. She smiled, and this time I could tell that the smile was real, not fake.

"Come on, darling," she said to me. "It's time for dinner. Now get changed if you would like and meet us at the table." Effie left the room and closed the door behind her as I slipped into the aquamarine outfit. When I finished getting changed, I opened the door and quickly walked toward the dining room.

Everyone else was sitting at the table when I arrived. The chairs were made of the same material as the headboard of my bed, and painted the same color, except a dark green cushion was attached to the seat. Platters of food covered the middle of the mahogany table. Haymitch had already served himself and started eating a stew. It smelled delicious. "Hurry up Prim," Peeta jokingly whined. "I want to eat. It's so tempting!"

I sat down and put food on my plate. I took some of the fresh baked bread and a bowl full of the stew. I lifted a spoonful of the stew into my mouth. I was in heaven. The broth was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth, and tasted great with a bite of the tough beef.

The look on my face must have explained it all, since the others chuckled as I took my first bite. But they eventually served and indulged themselves as well, and I could tell that they understood why I liked it so much.

"So…" Peeta said to break the rather awkward silence. "You're supposed to be our mentor right? Got any advice?"

Through a mouthful of bread, Haymitch replied, "Stay alive." Both Peeta and I thought it was a joke at first, but we soon realized it wasn't.

Haymitch finished first given that he had started before I came, and he chugged a glass of wine and got up to get more.

I held him down. Peeta reached for Haymitch's glass and started to say something, but I spoke first. "You should stay sober for us during the Games. But seriously, do you have any advice? How can we stay alive?"

Haymitch glared at me. He shrugged. "If you don't interfere with my drinking, I'll stay sober for you during the games." I looked at Peeta; he looked at me. We didn't have much of a choice, so we went along. But still, Haymitch didn't answer my question. I wonder how he was able to survive in the Games if he has no idea how to help either of us win.

After dinner, exhausted, I entered my room. The bed suddenly looked extra comfortable. I quickly changed into pajamas and flipped on a television I hadn't noticed earlier. It turned onto a recap of last year's Hunger Games.

The screen was divided into four parts. In the top left corner, a sword burst through the boy from 12's stomach. He looked down, and fell to the ground, a blank look on his face. Below it, I saw a spear being launched at another tribute that dived out of the way, flinging a knife as she fell. The knife landed in her attacker's eye. In the top right corner, a boy fired an arrow at a muttation. The mutt was hit in the middle of the heart, and collapsed as soon as the arrow hit.

These three scenes were all muted. In the bottom right corner of the screen, President Snow and Seneca Crane sat smiling and pointing at the tributes on the screen from their positions. Snow decided to get to business. "That's enough of looking at last year's tributes. Seneca," asked the president, "what do you think of the tributes this year?"

"Well, we haven't had even a day of training yet, but it looks to me like we have a very interesting set of tributes. The Career Pack looks plenty tough this year. That boy from twelve, too, looks strong. If the Careers ask anyone to join them, it'll be him. But what are the odds of that happening?"

"I agree, Seneca. Do you have anything to tell the citizens of Panem about the arena?"

A grin appeared on Seneca Crane's face. "Now, I can't tell you. What if one of the tributes is watching? Well, the Hunger Games is a lot like the holidays. The presents are wrapped, and can only be opened on the day of the holiday. The whole fun of it is the waiting. And playing with the toys, in this case, the tributes."

President Snow seemed to like Seneca's analogy, for he grinned as well. "That's it for now! Seneca Cane, everybody!" Applause roared, and the corner they were in zoomed out to see the Gamemaker and President sitting in the interview chairs the tributes would sit in. Capitol citizens were on their feet, screaming their heads off.

Suddenly, that corner switched to a clip from the previous Games. I flipped the TV off, and fell asleep, still in the clothes I wore to dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're going to look so _cute!_" I had been hearing remarks like that an infinite amount of times, and I was sick of it. I was also sick of my stylists ripping out every hair on my body except for the hair on my head. In fact, I was sick of _everything_ that had to do with these Capitol people.

They applied lotion on my red skin when they finished waxing that part, so I wouldn't be red for the chariot rides. Finally, I heard what I wanted to hear more than anything right then. Well, other than that I wouldn't have to participate in the Games.

"Okay, Primrose. This is the last one." Octivia, one of my stylists, waxed my right leg. I held back a scream. The lotion, however, was quickly applied, and made my skin feel better as soon as it made contact.

My main stylist, Cinna, came in. He, unlike the other stylists, was gentle, and I took to him right away. "Hello. I'm Cinna. What's your name?" he asked as he walked in.

"Primrose," I replied. I think I saw in his face an idea spark. Then he showed me this really cool trick, where fire appeared on cloth when he pressed a button. However, it didn't burn anything.

He had me close my eyes. He pulled a dress over me and worked on my hair and added other details for a long time, but I felt comfortable with him. Finally, he let me take a look. I gasped when I saw myself.

I was in a thick, long sleeved black dress that was made of a leathery substance, giving me a rather evil look. Red roses were woven together to make a crown, thorns trimmed only where they would touch me, but remained where they wouldn't. Actually, it was part of a rope of roses wrapped around me from the bottom of my dress and ended in the rind on my head. I had a dark red eye shadow, and mascara made my eyelashes look longer, thicker, and blacker than before. Cinna wrapped my hand around a dagger with a black blade and red hilt

Cinna grinned. "I hope you're not afraid of fire. This is nothing compared to what you'll look like later."

Unfortunately, I was not able to question him because it was time for the chariot rides. I met up with Peeta, and found that he had a very similar costume. He had a suit, made of the same material as my dress. A red rose was pinned in front of his heart. Around his waist was a scabbard made out of a rope of roses like what encircled me, except the part that actually held the sword was a black fabric, the same kind that we were wearing. He pulled out the sword and inspected it: a black blade and red hilt like mine. He looked sinister and stunning at the same time.

We walked to our chariot, and prepared to meet the other tributes.


End file.
